Any info on West Coast Martial Arts?

does anyone know anything about west coast martial arts? is it a chain? is it worth anyone's time and/or money? cause thats all ive found out here in reno and i have yet to go out and look at it. too busy doing an essay tonight. i just heard about it. all that iv'e heard about are ATA and U.S.S.D. (which you couldn't PAY me to go to.....unless there was absolutely no record of it afterwards EVER in the history of mankind and you could erase my memory and it was enough $$ to get me through college and then i would THINK about it) besides west coast. gimme some reviews, guys. i know we're good at that! =]

dude-looks really mcdojo'ish alot of schools from here to kansas. do a web search on reno nevada martial arts and research the styles a bit i mean i just did a preliminary search and saw kenpo, bjj, tkd and alot of other styles just do your homework to make sure you are happy with your final decision. the headmaster of the school you are looking at is ernie reyes research him also i mean if he has the pedigree then it may be worth it no matter how many schools he has. i dont know anything first hand about the school(sorry)but dont be afraid to shop around.

The truth

I know all about them. If you want legit MA. Don't go there. It's all a bunch of hollywood stuff. Their more concerned about being crappy b movies then martial arts. I studied there for a long time. Ask anybody who used to go there. (not anybody who currently goes there because their brainwashed- it's like the scientology of martial arts. Their main figure head-Ernie reyes jr. is ironically a scientologist- don't beleive me.........search ernie reyes jr and scientology on the net and you will see his scientology website- Any way it's like a cult with practices like spanking people in the but with the "sacred sticks" one spank for every degree. The Tony Robbins Quoting. The idol worshipping of ernie reyes sr and jr.etc.) The stuff you learn their, you could never use in a fight. I've gotten into my share and never once did I use their crappy cardio boxing moves. Oh yeah, they do cardio kickboxing. That's right you soccer moms you're in luck. But hey, check it out for yourself. Maybe you'll study there and get into one of their many live stage shows at san jose civic center. Then ernie reyes sr. will grease himself up and wear jeanie pants and beat you up like he always does.

WCTKD deserves praise for what it used to be and what is still good about it. But if you are looking for a place to train in hopes of actually fighting or competing in some way, go elsewhere unless you are satisfied with their closed WC only tournaments, which are just fine for newcomers or people that want to stay in shape, learn something, and get a taste for the MA lifestyle from a mainstream standpoint. I trained there when they had the old Campbell studio, back in the early '80's when they dominated the forms charts, before MMA fighting was enjoying public recognition. To digress from your question re: Reno, and to pay homage to what I saw back then, the instructors were top notch and serious about teaching great form, respect and dedication. It was a pleasure to be affiliated with them at a time when "Little Ernie" was 8 and undeniably extremely talented in what he was doing, even compared to adults competing in forms back then. I respected the studio, the people and what they did for me. Granted, I was a 16 year old girl coming in as a complete beginner and as someone who was fascinated by trying something my parents just shook their heads over. I was coincidentally referred to a studio that was experiencing notariety for good reason, so I was proud of my affiliation when I figured it all out. And they promoted students when they deserved it, and not before.

I rejoined them 18 years later, when TKD studios seemed to be popping up on every corner. And I went back to their headquarters, now in Santa Clara, because some of the same instructors were still there, although they had locations all over the place at that point. I was going to get that black belt, after a divorce and lots of time, after all. Everything had changed. Although instructors were still good, still teaching proper form, and still serious about doing their thing, I had joined a commercial monster. Hollywood successes firmly under their belts, they had figured out how to make real money in MA. I don't knock them one bit if they can make a real living doing what they love. I don't know about Reno, and what they teach, but at least at Santa Clara, Ernie Sr. still teaches classes, which means you learn, you have to...he is still intense about that. The pros and cons are these, from my perspective regarding Santa Clara only. Unfortunately, people are promoted if the come, pay, and stick with it. I see deserving black belt promotions, and charity cases alike. The system allows for rewarding people who just keep coming and paying, and "giving it 100%" regardless of whether they can get a kick up over their head or not. If you are older with accompanying limitations, or just not naturally gifted, flexible, strong, quick or able to dazzle, you will still be promoted, way beyond that point I personally fell you really should be. That kills the purity of what a black belt represents to me, although plenty of their black belts deserve their rank. And the fees, the hype and the "we ARE the best" thing grated on my nerves at the end. Also, I was there while they kept changing the curriculum for advancement, as they tried to standardize things via video tapes for all of their remote locations. It was confusing and felt hollow by then.

If you want to really fight, you have to go outside the chain to find hard core real experience. They teach a variety of technique now, which I appreciated, and are not afraid to blend styles now, especially since its popular. They introduced me to Fairtex on a studio field trip for a 3 hour hard core Muai Thai workout that rocked my world and got me thinking that WC certainly wasn't the end all. Once K-1 started taking off among martial artists (before the public figured it out), they broadened the curriculum. That was natural with Scott Coker becoming Mr. K-1, since he was also still West Coast too, and one of my original instructors actually. WC was not geared for full impact sparring though, at least when I left 6 years ago.

Yes, they have cardio and supplemental classes, but I understand that studios have to make money to pay people, or they lose their instructors to other jobs. So what you get is a well oiled machine, plenty of exercise and a taste of MA, with an organization that everybody knows, and movie posters on the wall to make you feel good. It depends on what you want. The demo team is a joy to watch, and those kids ARE very talented. Spend a year at a kickboxing studio and you could probably kick their butts easily in a street fight, but they can still do almost impossibly impressive things in the air that DO land them movie roles and stuntwork, while you will still wince trying to do the splits after warming up for an hour.

They still deserve respect, both for their top instructors and the fact that they were supportive when I caught the fighting bug and left for Cung Le's studio across town (and that's a different subject altogether). I tried overlapping workiouts for awhile because I still wanted to finish up and get my black belt. But I quickly found that the belt system didn't mean anything to me anymore, once I felt the rush of hitting someone in the face as hard as I could, and being hit back, for real. Learning moves that theoretically are fight moves, versus learning and executing real throws, kicks, punches and elbows are very different animals. WC deserves my praise and gratitude, but I outgrew them, based on my own goals and preferences. Tasting real blood does that to some people. Good luck with your choice.